Newsday, Long Island’s only daily newspaper, will remain in the hands of the Dolan family, the founders of Cablevision who have owned the newspaper since 2008.
Less than a month after the newspaper’s parent company Cablevision was sold to Netherlands-based media company Altice, an entity led by Patrick Dolan has acquired 75 percent of Newsday Media Group, Newsday announced in a press release today.
Charles Dolan, founder of Cablevision, will also hold a “small financial interest” in Newsday Media Group and serve on its board of directors.
“My father and I, together with our Altice partners, are deeply committed to preserving the state-of-the-art journalism that Newsday has consistently provided and that has served Long Islanders so well,” Patrick Dolan said in the press release. Dolan, who has been president of News 12 Networks since 2002, is now also the president of Newsday Media Group.
Altice acquired Cablevision Systems Corp. for $17.7 billion on June 21. The purchase also included Newsday, which Cablevision acquired in 2008, and News 12.
Altice will retain a 25 percent stake in the newspaper. As part of the agreement, Altice’s Optimum Online customers will still have access to Newsday.com and the Newsday smartphone apps.
